E-4B: This Plane Could Kill Billions of People in Just Minutes
This plane would let the President give orders while flying around to avoid being cut off or destroyed.
Key point: Deterring nuclear war means being able to wage one. This plane is what the President would board to issue final orders if a nuclear doomsday actually did occur.
That National Airborne Command Operations Center (NAOC) is a key component of the National Military Command System for the President, the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It was created so that in the event of a national emergency or an unthinkable scenario such as a nuclear war it couldn’t be taken out by the enemy. The reason is that this center isn’t a place—it is a flying command post that could continue to operate even if ground command control centers were destroyed.